CN not ready to announce EJ&E reroutes

Railway also has no timetable for when it will start federally mandated work

Wednesday is the first day Canadian National Railway Co. can begin running more trains on its newly acquired Elgin, Joliet & Eastern rail line, but CN said it has no plans yet to reroute freight traffic.

As suburbs along the EJ&E await word from CN, one of the communities that was an ardent critic of the acquisition has accepted a $1.8 million offer from the railroad to fund improvements intended to lessen the impact of the increased train traffic.

West Chicago's City Council voted 7-6 to approve an agreement with CN. The suburb could see an increase in freight traffic to more than 30 trains a day from 10.

CN will pay for a pedestrian underpass, road improvements, residential soundproofing, quiet zones and other measures. In return, West Chicago must give up further efforts to fight CN.

"We have to be realistic at this point," Ald. Ruben Pineda (3rd) said. "Whatever we think, the trains are going to be here in three years."

West Chicago is the 11th community to accept a mitigation deal from CN.

After acquiring the EJ&E effective Jan. 31, CN gave the suburbs 30-days' notice of its impending plan to reroute freight trains. But the railroad has not decided when to announce a timetable, spokesman Patrick Waldron said Tuesday.

"We're not ready for a rerouting announcement," Waldron said.

Communities along the EJ&E, which anticipate a tripling or quadrupling of the number of trains rolling through their towns, feel left in the dark.

CN's goal is to increase to 20 a day from 5 the number of trains running along a stretch of the EJ&E between Mundelein and Hoffman Estates. The railroad told Barrington last month that as many as six trains a day "may be candidates for rerouting over portions of the EJ&E."

Since then, Village President Karen Darch said, "We've gotten no word."

The village has warned residents and schools to be prepared.

CN also has not yet set a timetable for the start of work ordered by the federal Surface Transportation Board to mitigate the impact of the additional trains.

These measures include the installation of safety fences and video cameras to alert fire and police departments of blocked railroad crossings and efforts to reduce noise and vibrations from freight trains.

Without a timetable for CN's plans, hospitals and emergency personnel are feeling unprepared as well, Barrington Fire Chief Jim Arie said. "We don't have a high comfort level with this intended plan," Arie said.